Misterioso: A Crime Novel

✍ Scribed by Arne Dahl

• Publisher: Vintage; Pantheon Books
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 197 KB
• Series: Intercrime
• Edition: E-Book
• Category: Fiction
• City: New York, Stockholm (Sweden), Sweden--Stockholm.
• ISBN-13: 9782010032837

✦ Synopsis

After successfullybut bloodilydismantling a complicated hostage situation at a bank in the suburbs of Stockholm, Detective Paul Hjelm is faced with the requisite investigation by Internal Affairs. It is a potentially career-ending inquiry, but he is plucked out of it by the National Criminal Police commissioner, who drops him into an elite task force of officers assembled from across the country to find an elusive killer with a sophisticated modus operandi and even more sophisticated tastes.

Targeting Swedens high-profile business leaders, the killer breaks into their homes at night, waits for his victims, places two bullets in their heads with deadly precision, and removes the bullets from the wallsa ritual enacted to a rare bootleg recording of Thelonious Monks jazz classic Misterioso.

As Hjelm, his young, doggedly energetic partner, Jorge Chavez, and the rest of the team follow one lead after another in their pursuitnavigating the murky underworlds of the Russian Mafia and the secretive members-only society of Swedens wealthiest denizensthey must also delve into one of the countrys most persistent ills: a deep-rooted xenophobia that affects both the police and the perpetrator in a small nation that is becoming rapidly internationalized.

The first novel in Arne Dahls gripping Intercrime serieswidely considered to be one of Swedens bestMisterioso is a penetrating, dark, and absorbing introduction to this acclaimed authors world.

BONUS MATERIAL: This edition includes an excerpt from Arne Dahl's Bad Blood.

Review

Absorbing. . . . A dark, tense thriller.
Newark Star-Ledger
Terrific. . . . Full of twists and turns, blind alleys and sudden assaults, procedural hassles and stakeouts.
Providence Journal

Thoughtfully haunting and sometimes beautifully written, the first of Hjelms cases to be translated into English is likely to resonate with readers of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.
Austin American-Statesman

Mystery devotees who loved Mankells Kurt Wallander, and crime-fiction lifers who still treasure Sjowalls and Wahloos Martin Beck, will want to add Paul Hjelm to their short lists of international favorites.
Booklist

A truly fine crime novel.
The Advocate (Baton Rouge)

[A] superb police procedural. . . . Dahl has created a brilliant character and a terrific story, and should that not be enough, this is a classic cop-shop tale of the old school.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Most of the fun ofMisteriosocomes from the follow-the-power, follow-the-money games played by Hjelm and his associates. And while Dahl clearly sees detective fiction as having the ability to tackle hard-hitting issues of the day, the mysterys solution isnt lacking in good old-fashioned puzzle intrigue, either.
The Portland Mercury

A unique and wonderful book. It is part mystery, part police procedural, part existential philosophy, and part comedy. There is something so distinctive about this book that it resists categorization. . . . There is not a dull moment. It seems like the Scandinavians are having a true renaissance in crime writing and Arne Dahl is right at the top.
MostlyFiction.com

An exciting debut. . . . Fans of hard-boiled detective and Swedish novels will enjoy this.
Library Journal

About the Author

Arne Dahl is an award-winning crime novelist and literary critic. He lives in Sweden.

✦ Subjects

Sweden -- Stockholm